Powdered soap dispenser



March 26, 1957 R. R. D. MILLIGAN POWDERED SOAP DISPENSER Filed Oct. 20,1954 I N VENTOR ///SATTORNEY United States Patent POWDERED SOAPDISPENSER Robert R. D. Milligan, Portland, Ind.

Application October 20, 1954, Serial N0.'463,413

2 Claims. (Cl. 222-430) This invention relates to a powdered soapdispenser, and has for one of its objects the production of asoapdispenser which is primarily for home use, and which will fit flatagainst the wall or other support and at the same time providesuificient clearance for the fingers of an operator to be inserted underthe actuating plunger for operation thereof.

A further object of this invention is the production of a simple andefiicient powdered soap dispenser having a valve for tightly sealing thedischarge opening and to thereby prevent leakage and sifting out of thepowdered materials when not in use, and also to prevent the entrance ofsteam or other forms of moisture into the dispenser.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appearthroughout the following specification and claims.

In the drawing:

:Figure l is a front elevational view partly in section, showing theimproved soap dispenser;

Figure 2 is :a bottom plan View thereof, partly in section;

Figure 3 is a central vertical sectional view thereof, the cover beingshown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a rear elevational view of the dispenser;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the valve element;

Figure 6 .is a top plan view of the valve;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form of valve.

-By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that 10 designates thehollow casing of the dispenser which is provided with an open top, theopen top being closed by a lid 11. The casing 10 is provided with arelatively fiat rear wall 12 which is preferably inset slightly from theflat side ribs 13, and the top rib 14, the ribs 13 and 14 being in thesame plane to fit snugly and flat against the wall or other support W. Asuitable hanger screw 16 is preferably carried by the wall W, and itshead is adapted to fit within a T-shaped slot 17, which is formed in therear face of the depending boss 18 of the casing 10, as is shown inFigure 3. The boss 18 is located near the bottom of the casing 10 asshown. A hanger screw or pin 19 passes through the aperture 20 in thewall 12 near the top of the casing to anchor the casing 10 flat againstthe wall W, or other support. It will be noted that both the hangerscrew or pin 19 and the hanger screw 16 are concealed in the rear of thecasing. The cover 11 fits over the top of the casing and shields thescrew 19 from view after the screw has been placed in position. Inmounting the casing upon the wall W, the T-shaped slot 17 is slippeddown over the head of the hangerscrew 16 and the screw 19 is secured inposition, thereby anchoring the casing firmly upon .and fiat against thewall W.

The casing 10, at its lower end is provided with a rear downwardly andforwardly extending wall 21 which merges into a depending dischargenozzle 22 formed by the fiat front wall 23 and the converging downwardlyex 2,7 86,610 Patented Mar. 26,1957

tending side walls 24. The nozzle 22 is provided with a flat bottom wall25 having a centrally located discharge or dispensing aperture or port26. The downwardly and forwardly inclined .wall 21 spaces the bottomwall 25 forwardly of the supporting wall W, so as to provide adequateclearance for the fingers of an operator while operating the plunger 27which supports the valve 28 here inafter described.

The plunger 27 extends vertically through'the dispensing aperture orport 26, and carries the valve 28. This valve preferably consists of twotruncated cones with their apexes joining and formed of one piece ofrubber or other resilient or desired material to provide a tightlysealing valve. The valve 28 which is double acting, is fixed to theplunger 27, and the plunger 27 is provided with a depending knob 29against which the valve 28 abuts, as shown; The two coniforms orportions 28 and 28', which define reverse cone-like portions, arearranged so that one is above and the other is below the aperture orport 26, and the junction of the two coniforms of the valve 28 issmaller than :the aperture 26, the opposite ends of the coniforms beinglarger than the aperture or port 26 to facilitate the opening andclosing of the aperture or port 26 as the plunger 27 is reciprocatedtherethrough. The plunger 27, the valve 25; and depending knob 29, allconstitute a valve member.

The plunger 27 extends upwardly into the casing .10 vfor a desireddistance, and this plunger 2'] is provided with a circular socket 30 inthe upper end thereof, as shown in Figmres 5 and 6, to accommodate bothdepending ends 31 and 32 of the spring 33. The spring 33 preferably isformed of spring wire and includes a portion 34 which extendshorizontally across the back of the casing 10 and then downwardly inparallel relation flat against the exterior of the rear wall 12 of thecasing 10, thereby defining depending parallel portions 34 Thesedepending portions 34* then pass through the rear wall 12, therebydefining forwardly extending converging arms 35, which meet directlyabove the circular socket 30 to locate the depending ends 31 and 32 ofthe spring 33 in the socket 30. The spring is secured by some suitabletemporary means to hold it in assembly with the plunger, such asadhesive tape, or other temporary means, until the dispenser isinstalled on a wall or other suitable support, when the crosswiseportion 34 of the spring will bear against the wall W, which gives theadded advantage of taking up any small l-ooseness under the head ofscrew 16, which obviously cannot be tightened otherwise after assembly.

This novel form of spring construction set forth above anchors thespring 33 firmly in engagement with the casing 10, and anchors the upperend of the plunger 27 against sidewise motion in any direction, Whileallowing vertical reciprocating motion. In case of obstruction of theflow of the powdered soap or other similar materials, the plunger 27 maybe raised to a mid-position, with respect to the dispensing aperture orport 26, and rotated, using the ends 31 and 32 of the spring 33 as apivot and thereby loosen the caked or lumpy soap material and permit thepowdered soap or other material to flow out through the aperture or port26. The knob 29 of the plunger 27 may be grasped, and the plunger 27 maybe revolved on its axis to loosen the material if desired. The conicalvalve 28 always guides itself to its seating position when realeased dueto the action of the sprin 33. Since the aperture or port 26 is circularand the portions 28 and 28* are arranged upon the plunger 27 with oneportion above and one below the aperture or port 26, in the bottom ofthe container 10, the portion 28 will close the aperture or port 26 whenthe plunger 27 is moved down, and the other portion 28 will close theaperture or port 26 when the plunger 27 is moved up, the

aperture or port 26 being open when the portions 28 and 28 are in amid-position.

The present dispenser is constructed to harmonize with the usualbathroom fixtures, and may be easily cleaned. It is adapted to fit fiatagainst the wall or support to which it is attached and the fasteningmeans or elements are both concealed, the casing being constructed toprovide sufiicient clearance for the fingers of an operator to beinserted under the plunger 27 to operate the plunger and to receivesimultaneously the powdered cleanser or soap. The valve 28 itightlyseals the dispensing aperture or port 26, to prevent leakage and siftingout of the powdered soap or other similar materials when not in use, andto prevent entrance of steam or other moisture which would tend tosolidify the cleansing powder stored in the casing 10. The valve 28provides means for agitating the powdered material to unclog theaperture or port 26 to relieve caking, lumping or clogging. Thestructure defined herein provides a dispenser which is economical tomanufacture so that it may be sold at a price to encourage volume salesin the domestic market. Because of the flat surfaces and roundedcorners, the casing will be easy to clean. The parts and design are wellsuited to volume production by molding of ceramics, plastics,

or glass. The parts may be die-cast of various non-corrosive metals, orthey may be stamped from sheet metal within the'spirit of the invention.

As is shown in Figure 7, the valve 36 may be constructed of tow separatereversed cones 37 and 38, which are then secured together at theirapexes in any desired manner when fixed to the plunger 39. Thisstructure may facilitate assembly.

It should be understood that certain detail changes may be employedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, so long as suchchanges fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new 1s:

1. A dispenser of the class described comprising a hollow casing havinga dispensing port, a valve member carried by said casing to open andclose said port, said casing having a flat rear Wall, a spring passingtransversely across the exterior of said rear wall, said spring havingdepending portions fitting flat against the rear outer face of saidwall, said depending portions converging toward a point in line withsaid valve member, said valve member being rotatably connected to theconverging portions of said spring in a manner to vautomatically holdsaid valve member in a closed position when said valve member isreleased and at the same time to facilitate the rotation of said valvemember to relieve clogging of the contents of said casing adjacent saiddispensing port.

2. A dispenser "as defined in claim 1, wherein the converging portionsof said spring have depending ends, the valve member having a circularsocket in the upper end thereof for receiving said depending ends toprovide a rotatable connection between said spring and valve member.

Harris Aug. 4, 1903 Cook Feb. 12, 1952

